Island



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

W. R. TILLINGHAST CLOTH CLIP.

No. 600,184. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

FIG.

w/r/visssz (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

W. R. TILLINGHAST. CLOTH CLIP.

No. 600,184. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

m: nonms wrrzns cu. PHOYO-LIYNQ, WASHINGTON u. c.

UNITED, STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. TILLINGHAST, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

CLOTH-CLIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,184, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed December 30, 1896- gerial No. 617,463. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, WILLIAM R. TILLING- HAST, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cloth-Clips, of which the following, with the accompanying drawings hereby made a part hereof, is a description.

My invention relates to that class of clips used principally upon cloth-tentering machines in which, after the cloth is fed into it, the clip is-prevented from seizing upon the cloth until it is sufficiently withdrawn to enable the clip to uniformly seize or grasp its selvage. This has been heretofore accomplished by making a slot in one jaw of the clip, generally the lower jaw, and by placing a finger in various ways above this slot to control the upper jaw of the clip, so that when the cloth is fed into the clip it will prevent the finger from falling into the slot until the cloth is withdrawn from under the finger and uncovers the slot; but when this is accomplished the finger drops into the slot and permits the upper jaw to fall and grasp the cloth. My invention follows this general plan; butit is found that for thin goods it is necessary to prevent the finger from weighing too heavily upon the cloth over the slot, and it is certainly advisable, if not necessary, to permit the upper jaw of the clip to act positively and quickly and with considerable force when it is finally allowed to grasp the cloth, and it is the object of my invention to give these effects.

Figure l of the drawings is a front view of the clip, the arm K being omitted, showing the clip open, as in Fig. 5. Figs. 2, 3, and 5 are side views, partly in section, of different positions of the clip, as hereinafter explained. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the clip, also as in Fig. 5. Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged views of a portion of the device, and Fig. 8 an enlarged view of a modified arrangement.

The framework of the clip consists of a base or link portion A, made in the same shape as it has heretofore been constructed, so as to fit at each end similar portions of other clips, it being understood that these clips are joined together in endless chains, as will be well understood by those conversant with tentering-machines, and of two gravity upon a portion of the finger.

arms a in much the usual shape, preferably cast in one piece with the base or link portion. Upon the base A is the fiat piece B, constituting the lower jaw of the clip, and with the usual slot 0- through it. Near the end of the arms a is pivoted the upper jaw D,which,when permitted, falls upon the lower jaw B and grasps the cloth between them, and so constructed that when the clip is closed it will form a slightly-acute angle with the lower jaw, as shown in Fig. 3. the rear upon the pivot e is the finger E, which is so constructed as to be in a vertical plane with the slot 0 and pass into it when required, as hereinafter described. Attached to this finger E and preferably forming a portion of it, but on the opposite side of its pivot e, is the weight F. Attached to the upper jaw D of the clip and forming a part of it are two similar pieces G, projecting toward the rear and finger and preferably made in the shape shown. These are so arranged as to leave a space between them, within which the finger E may pass. Pivoted upon the upwardly-projecting portion of the finger E is the catch H. This catch H is constructed to extend laterally from each side of the finger E, so as to be in the paths described by the arms G when the upper jaw D is opened, but so that the middle or intermediate portion of the catch will normally rest by The finger E is so shaped as to prevent the catch H from turning so far back as to prevent it from falling by gravity into its normal position whenever permitted to do so, or a special stop attached to the finger E could be arranged to accomplish this. The construction of this catch 11 will be readily understood by a reference to Figs. 6 and '7, which are respectively a side and plan view of the end of the finger E with this catch attached. Attached or otherwise connected to the upper jaw D is the arm K, which is designed, as the clips pass around the tentering-machine, to be caught upon a suitably-arrangedtrack or wedge attached to the frame of the tentering-machine in such a way that it will be lifted upwardly and thus open the upper jaw of the clip. This arm K is preferably placed in the position relative to the upper Pivoted at v jaw D, (shown in the drawin gs,) so that when it is released, as hereinafter described, it will act as an additional weight upon the jaw D to close it quickly and positively.

These several parts, before described, are so proportioned and arranged that the clip will work as follows: Commencing with Fig. 3, which represents the clip as it is when grasping the selvage of the cloth as it passes through the greater length of the tenteringmachine and also practically as it is after having released the cloth and is passing back to the point at which the cloth is fed into it, it will be observed that, as here shown, the finger E is overbalanced by the weight F upon the other side of its pivot e, the weight F resting upon the projection L of the framework of the clip. The finger E is thus held in the position shown in this figure until the clip approaches the point at which the cloth is fed into it. As it approaches this point the arm K will run onto the stationary track or wedge (not shown) mentioned above, and which is attached to the framework of the centering-machine, and the upper jaw D will thus be opened. The projections G of the upper jaw moving in their proper path will come in contactwith the catch H and, throwing it back out of their path, will pass above it, whereupon the catch H will again fall back by gravity into its normal position. This position of the parts is shown in Fig. 5. After the cloth has been fed into the clip the arm K, by passing off the opening track or wedge, will be allowed to drop and thus permit the upper jaw D also to fall, and the projections G will catch upon the catch II in the path of their descent. The weight of the jaw D and arm K thus added to the finger E is so proportioned to the weight F that it will somewhat overbalance it and cause the finger E to rest lightly upon the cloth underneath it, as is shown in Fig. 2; but when the cloth passes farther along in the tentering-machine and it is withdrawn from under the finger E the latter will pass through the slot 0 and the jaw D will be released from it by the projecting pieces G escaping over the ends of the catch H, whereupon the finger E will pass back into the position first described and shown in Fig. 3, from the action of the weight F, and the upper jaw D will fall upon the cloth positively and quickly by reason of its own weight and the weight of the arm K, and thus grasp the cloth firmly.

A consideration of this device will show that it must be so constructed that the arcs of the circles described by the ends of the projections G and the end of the catch H, respectively, must intersect at the point at which the jaw D is to be released by the withdrawal of the cloth, and that the catch H when the finger is normally opened must not have passed the other point where the respective arcs would again intersectif suificientlyextended.

It will also be found advisable, I think, to make the space included within these arcs as small and narrow as possible, as is the case in the device shown in the drawings.

Various other devices may take the place of the catch H and the projecting pieces G. It is only necessary that the upper jaw D or some portion of it shall as it is opened pass by and above the normally-opened finger orsome portion of it and yet as it descends catch upon the finger, to be released therefrom only when the cloth is sufiiciently withdrawn from under the finger to bring it within the spirit of my invention, and there are various means by which this may be accomplished. Thus the catch H may be replaced by the wedge-shaped bolt and spring of an ordinary door-latch, as shown in Fig. 8, it being understood that the bolt would also extend laterally from the finger, so as to be in the path of the arms G or equivalent construction, and various other devices will probably occur to any mechanic. The catch H or the spring-controlled latch may also be mounted upon the jaw D instead of upon the finger E, and the projecting pieces G may also be much modified in shape, and possibly be absent entirely, the lower edge of the jaw D as it is opened being in the latter case made to pass above the catch or equivalent device of the finger. If desired, a spring arranged to keep the finger normally open may also replace the weight F.

I claim as my invention 1. In a cloth-clip, the combination of a jaw with a slot through it, a pivoted jaw, a pivoted finger placed to pass through said slot upon occasion but normally kept away from the slot when free of said pivoted jaw, and means by which some part of the pivoted jaw may be permitted to pass over the finger as the jaw is opened but may catch upon it as the jaw closes and may be released from the finger when the latter passes through the slot, the whole proportioned so that the jaw when caught upon the finger will overbalance it, substantially as described.

2. In a cloth-clip, the combination of a jaw with a slot through it, a pivoted finger counterbalanced to normally keep it away from said slot but placed to pass through the slot upon occasion, a pivoted jawprovided with projecting arms, and a catch pivoted to said finger which will permit the projecting arms of the jaw to pass by it as the jaw is opened but will catch them as it descends, the whole proportioned so that the weight of the jaw added to the finger will overbalance it and to permit the arms to pass from the catch when the finger passes through said slot, substantially as described.

WM. R. TILLINGIIAST. lVitnesses:

JOHN J. DOCKRY, A. A. WILLrs. 

